


New Ground to Lay

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Advice, Canon Compliant, Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-22 13:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13764741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: Three days after, she’s still sore and pretty bruised, but there’s a pit the size of a boulder in her stomach, so she hauls herself out of bed and to the garden, and starts making boulders big enough to fill it out of the grounds of Sparky’s new palace.Luckily, an old friend is there to offer tea and good advice.Toph and Iroh, after the War.





	New Ground to Lay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iceshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceshade/gifts).



> In some small way, I think this fic was probably loosely inspired by _The Art of Tea and Conversation_ by Sholio, which can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/109761). 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Three days after, she’s still sore and pretty bruised, but there’s a pit the size of a boulder in her stomach, so she hauls herself out of bed and to the garden, and starts making boulders big enough to fill it out of the grounds of Sparky’s new palace.

“Don’t worry,” she says when she feels the old man approaching behind her. “I’m the greatest Earthbender in the world—I can put it all back. And I grew up in high society, so I know how you people like it done.”

He chuckles. “Do you consider me among such people?”

“Well,” She turns to face him. “Not really.”

“In any case,” he continues. “I did not come here out of concern for the Palace landscaping but rather to enjoy my morning cup of tea. Would you like to join me?”

She cracks a small smile despite herself, and a moment later she is crouching facing him, holding a porcelain cup of piping hot jasmine tea between her palms.

“You know,” the old man says, once he has poured his own tea. “I must thank you, Toph. My nephew relayed to me what you said to him on Ember Island several weeks ago. How you reassured him that I had forgiven him, when he was convinced that I would not.” He pauses, sighs. “I did not realize until far too recently to what extent he was unaware of the fact that he was loved and that I needed him. How deeply he needed to hear it. But you yourself told me as much when we first met all those months ago. I should have listened.”

“Yeah, you Fire Nation people can be pretty stupid. But,” she sighs, then cracks her back as an apparent excuse. “I guess you’re not the only ones.”

“You seem troubled.”

“I’m not _troubled_ , I just...It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“There’s nothing wrong with letting the people who love you help you, Toph.”

“I know Sparky thinks that you can solve all the world’s problems, old man. But I don’t think this is something you can fix.”

“Sometimes discussing something with a friend who is willing to listen over tea brings great clarity.”

Toph crosses her arms, creases her eyebrows for a moment, but then finally relents. If there is anyone she trusts not to pity her—and to give her good advice—it’s him. “Do you know why I ran away with Twinkle-Toes in the first place?”

“Was it not to teach him Earthbending?”

“Well, that’s what I told him and everyone else.”

“But it was not the genuine reason.”

“You’ve seen me, old man! You know that I’m the greatest Earthbender in the world. And how capable I am of taking care of myself! You’ve seen me. But a lot of times people, they don’t see me. They just see that I’m blind, and they think that I’m weak. When my parents looked at me, all they ever saw was a blind, helpless baby! And I don’t know if it was because they were afraid for me, or ashamed of me, but they never let me outside, and they hardly ever let anyone near me. I had to...I couldn’t stay...And I know what you’re gonna say. That I should suck it up and try to get along with them and go back because they’re my parents—”

“I will say no such thing. I have seen, especially within my own family, that the people who brought us into the world are not always good to us once we are here. And if they are not, we do not owe them anything.”

“But my parents aren’t like the old Loser Lord! They never _burned_ me. They never laid a hand on me at all! And I think that they think that they love me…”

Iroh sighs. “There are so many ways to fail a child. Even a child you love. Perhaps especially a child you love. One of those ways is to refuse to see the child for who they are.”

It’s helpful to hear him say it, Toph thinks. Makes her feel like she isn’t crazy, even if that’s a concern she didn’t know she had until this moment. “Yeah.”

“Was it that which was bothering you this morning?” the old man asks, tentatively, after a moment.

“Yeah...And I mean, I ran away to do a job. Help Twinkle-Toes defeat the Fire Lord! And that’s done, and I _can’t_ go home, so what am I supposed to do now?!”

“What would you like to do?”

“I don’t know! Earthbend. And...metalbend. You know, I invented metalbending!”

“Yes. It is quite an accomplishment!”

“And you know, I’m the greatest Earthbender in the world and I’m gonna be for my whole life, but if something happened to me, it’d be a shame if no one else knew how to do it.”

“Indeed it would.”

“I’m gonna teach it, old man! I already taught Twinkle-Toes Earthbending, and if I can do that, I can teach anyone anything! I’ll set up a school! Maybe in Ba Sing Se!”

“What a wonderful idea.” Iroh smiles. “May I offer a proposition?”

“Go for it.”

“Once my nephew gets settled, I will be returning to Ba Sing Se to reopen my teashop, and my apartment is large enough for both my nephew and myself. Since he will be remaining here, I will have a spare room, which you are more than welcome to occupy.”

“I don’t want your handouts!”

“Certainly not. I will require an assistant in the teashop. Perhaps you would be interested in working with me in the hours you are not teaching. And in exchange, I will provide you housing.”

Toph doesn’t have to consider long. Already, she feels sweet, solid Earth beginning to materialize to fill the pit in her stomach. So she grins, extends her hand. “Old man, I think you’ve got yourself a deal!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Comments are my bread and butter!


End file.
